I don't remember Ernie Banks playing shortstop as he stopped playing SS in 1961. But how good of a SS was Banks?

IMHO he was a good to excellent fielding shortstop. In fairness and honesty I was born in 1950, but in my childhood all Cub home games were televised, and I watched as much baseball as possible, really loved living in a city with two big league teams. Banks made a lot of errors in his early years but steadily improved. His range and arm were both good I thought. Of course he hit the hell out of the ball too. I remember when they moved him to first being surprised, but his legs and knees were already wearing down. I also thought he was a decent fielding first baseman. When the much ballyhooed Leo Durocher took over the team in 1966, he seemed to have it in for Banks, but Ernie took on all comers and held onto his position at first base. Ernie Banks is one of the all time good guys in MLB history.

He's a good player, no question about it, but I'm always left wondering how much better he might be if he paid more attention to what's happening around him. His on-field awareness leaves much to be desired.

On a somewhat related note, seemingly every Cubs prospect is advertised as something special, and most of them turn out to be anything but.

That is the biggest red flag when it comes to Castro, he makes a ton of stupid mistakes and mental errors. When he first came up I think it was easy to say "Well, he's a rookie and he will learn." This is his fourth year in the majors and from what I have seen he STILL is making the same mistakes he did back in 2010. I thought the Cubs would have been wise to go out and get a guy like Omar Vizquel last year, I think that he (and Ozzie) did a lot to improve Alexei's play at shortstop from 2009 to 2010.

IMHO he was a good to excellent fielding shortstop. In fairness and honesty I was born in 1950, but in my childhood all Cub home games were televised, and I watched as much baseball as possible, really loved living in a city with two big league teams. Banks made a lot of errors in his early years but steadily improved. His range and arm were both good I thought. Of course he hit the hell out of the ball too. I remember when they moved him to first being surprised, but his legs and knees were already wearing down. I also thought he was a decent fielding first baseman. When the much ballyhooed Leo Durocher took over the team in 1966, he seemed to have it in for Banks, but Ernie took on all comers and held onto his position at first base. Ernie Banks is one of the all time good guys in MLB history.

Ah yes, I remember him well. Not much range, great hands, average but accurate arm except for one period of Steve Sax disease where he got the yips making a throw. Smooth looking in the field, call me blasphemous, but not an athletic shortstop who could dive for a ball, bounce to his feet and gun a bullet over to first. They tried him in left field for a while where he was lost. Also at third base. First base was his best field position. Batter was his best position overall. One of the heroes of my past.

He was no Aparicio but was pretty damn good, very smooth with a good arm. He won a Gold Glove in 1960.

In a typical Cub move they brought in a guy by the name of Andre Rodgers to play SS and I'm pretty sure he led the league in errors at SS for 3 years.

That reminds me...my Dad was a HUGE Sox fan. I don't remember my Dad ever talking much about the Cubs. However I do remember Dad debating a Cubs fan about who was the better shortstop, Ernie Banks or Luis Aparicio. I was young at the time of the debate and had no clue about either player. From what you've said and a cursory review of their stats, it seems my Dad was right on that arguement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SI1020

IMHO he was a good to excellent fielding shortstop. In fairness and honesty I was born in 1950, but in my childhood all Cub home games were televised, and I watched as much baseball as possible, really loved living in a city with two big league teams. Banks made a lot of errors in his early years but steadily improved. His range and arm were both good I thought. Of course he hit the hell out of the ball too. I remember when they moved him to first being surprised, but his legs and knees were already wearing down. I also thought he was a decent fielding first baseman. When the much ballyhooed Leo Durocher took over the team in 1966, he seemed to have it in for Banks, but Ernie took on all comers and held onto his position at first base. Ernie Banks is one of the all time good guys in MLB history.

Interesting. Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by slavko

Ah yes, I remember him well. Not much range, great hands, average but accurate arm except for one period of Steve Sax disease where he got the yips making a throw. Smooth looking in the field, call me blasphemous, but not an athletic shortstop who could dive for a ball, bounce to his feet and gun a bullet over to first. They tried him in left field for a while where he was lost. Also at third base. First base was his best field position. Batter was his best position overall. One of the heroes of my past.

The Cubs moved Banks out of SS when Banks was fairly young and only one year removed from his GG. Thanks.

That reminds me...my Dad was a HUGE Sox fan. I don't remember my Dad ever talking much about the Cubs. However I do remember Dad debating a Cubs fan about who was the better shortstop, Ernie Banks or Luis Aparicio. I was young at the time of the debate and had no clue about either player. From what you've said and a cursory review of their stats, it seems my Dad was right on that arguement.

Your dad was right. Aparicio was one of the all time greatest fielding shortstops. Aparicio and Fox. I loved that combo, in the field and at the plate.

[QUOTE=DrCrawdad;3042792]That reminds me...my Dad was a HUGE Sox fan. I don't remember my Dad ever talking much about the Cubs. However I do remember Dad debating a Cubs fan about who was the better shortstop, Ernie Banks or Luis Aparicio. I was young at the time of the debate and had no clue about either player. From what you've said and a cursory review of their stats, it seems my Dad was right.

In those days the only thing Cub fans had going for them was Mr. Cub.
Believe or not, Chicago was a Sox town back then.

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